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Chapter 323 - From Civil War To Romance Teasing In 48 Hours

Once they returned to the village, there wasn't even a moment to breathe, everything moved at once.

Tsunade didn't waste a single second. She grabbed Ren by the collar, fixed Itachi with a glare that allowed no argument, and marched both of them straight toward the hospital like a general escorting two reckless soldiers off a battlefield.

"You two don't get to faint dramatically later," she snapped as they walked. "If you're going to collapse, you're doing it on my operating table."

Ren raised a hand lazily.

"Big sis, I prefer dramatic entrances, not dramatic collapses."

She didn't even look at him.

"Shut up."

Inside the hospital, she cleared an entire wing. ANBU guards sealed the floor and Utakata and Shizune were already waiting.

Tsunade pointed without hesitation.

"Utakata, you're with Ren. That wound is spatial distortion related. Treat it like the Goldy's early FTG injuries, but worse."

Utakata nodded calmly, "I understand."

"Shizune, you assist me with Itachi. His chakra pathways are unstable. We need to stabilize before regeneration. If we rush, scar tissue forms."

Shizune swallowed but nodded.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

Ren was placed on one table, Itachi on another. Tsunade stood between them, sleeves already rolled up.

For Hiruzen, watching from the doorway for just a moment before leaving, something inside him finally eased.

Tsunade's hands were steady, there were no tremor, no hesitation at the sight of blood. The ghost of her hemophobia wasn't there.

He exhaled slowly.

Even if she never returned to the village… even if she refused the see him forever… with her here, the village's survival rate in the next war would increase by an enormous margin.

And wars always came.

He turned away quietly.

~

Outside the hospital, the rest of the village was in motion, it was controlled chaos because Hiruzen and Shikaku didn't rest either.

Spies were being quietly rounded up.

ANBU simply appeared on rooftops, a hand on a shoulder, a whisper, a flash and someone was gone.

Most villagers didn't ask questions.

They didn't need to.

Danzo had hung from the Hokage Tower that morning. That image alone answered enough. Those taken were assumed to be Danzo's loyalists or foreign spies or both.

Which, in most cases, was correct.

Shikaku had long maintained quiet records of foreign agents operating within Konoha, it wasn't new, every village did it. The Leaf had operatives in Suna, Kumo, Iwa, and Kirigakure too. It was a mutual understanding, spy on each other, but don't overstep.

But this was a transition period and transition periods were when enemies tested borders.

So they made a decision.

Let the spies send their messages first.

Then take them.

Hiruzen had approved it. "Let them report," he had said calmly. "Let them describe what they saw."

Danzo executed publicly, the future Hokage announced, the Uchiha civil conflict contained. Massive chakra fluctuations near the Hokage monument.

That news spreading outward would serve as deterrence far more effectively than silence.

And truthfully?

They didn't need to flex too hard.

The Sand and Mist were too busy stabilizing themselves after previous conflicts to provoke the Leaf.

The Cloud and Stone were tense, especially with Ren holding certain "hostage arrangements" over them, but they couldn't move blindly. There were too many uncertainties, too many unknown variables.

And Ren hadn't contacted them yet, which meant they didn't know how to respond.

Fear of the unknown was a powerful deterrent.

Back in the village streets, activity never stopped. ANBU patrolled rooftops constantly, Shinobi teams moved in coordinated silence, certain Root remnants were dismantled methodically.

Some surrendered quietly, some resisted. Those who resisted didn't resist for long and yet, despite all of it, there was no chaos, riot or panic because the message had been clear that morning.

The Leaf was not collapsing, it was reorganizing.

Shikaku oversaw the coordination like a chess master cleaning up a messy board.

"Remove that cell, transfer those assets, audit that storage facility, cross-check the funding trail."

He moved pieces with quiet efficiency but there was no hatred in his actions only necessity.

For years, he had tolerated a balance, Root existed, foreign spies existed, certain dirt remained buried because digging everything up would destabilize too much.

But now?

Now was a reset and resets required cleaning.

He even made sure certain operations were delayed intentionally.

"Don't take all of them," he instructed one ANBU captain. "If we remove every spy, other villages will panic and assume we're preparing for war. Leave a few. The ones we can control."

Controlled information flow was as important as eliminating threats.

Meanwhile, Kakashi returned to headquarters after gathering his men.

His team looked exhausted, bloodstained, but standing.

He didn't allow celebration.

"Report injuries. Debrief in two hours. No one speaks outside authorized channels."

His tone was calm but different, more solid as Ren's earlier words echoed in his mind.

Three years.

Jonin Commander.

The weight of that expectation sat quietly on his shoulders.

And for the first time in a long while, he didn't resent it.

Elsewhere, civilians cautiously resumed daily routines, shopkeepers reopened shutters. Children were still kept indoors, but windows cracked open.

Whispers traveled through streets.

"Did you see it?"

"He really hung Danzo."

"Ren-sama looked fearless."

"The Uchiha matter… is it resolved?"

No one had full answers.

But there was one overwhelming sentiment, the village hadn't fractured.

It had survived.

~

In the hospital, hours passed.

Tsunade didn't leave the operating room.

Utakata carefully worked on the spatial residue embedded in Ren's wound. The distortion was subtle, almost like microscopic fractures between chakra and flesh. It required slow separation, careful sealing.

Ren stayed conscious longer than he should have.

"Sensei," he muttered at one point, "if I die, tell them I died heroically."

Utakata didn't look up.

"You will not die."

"That's not dramatic."

"Be quiet."

On the other table, Itachi remained still while Shizune carefully mapped damaged pathways.

Tsunade personally repaired the most critical ruptures, weaving chakra threads with extreme precision.

"This is self-inflicted stupidity," she muttered under her breath.

Itachi said nothing.

But when she stabilized a particularly torn segment, he quietly spoke.

"Thank you."

She didn't answer.

But her hands became slightly gentler.

~

It took almost an entire day with the best healers in the world to finally heal both of them.

Tsunade didn't leave the hospital wing except to wash blood off her hands and come back. Utakata rotated chakra carefully into Ren's wound until the spatial residue finally dissolved. Shizune worked with near frightening focus on Itachi's chakra pathways, stitching them back together with microscopic precision.

By the time Tsunade finally straightened up and declared, "You're both stable," the sun had already set once and risen again.

"Rest," she ordered flatly.

It wasn't advice. It was a threat disguised as medical instruction.

Itachi nodded immediately. "Yes."

Ren also nodded. "Yes, big sis."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him longer than necessary, then she left.

The moment her footsteps faded down the corridor, Ren sat upright.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

He stretched his arms above his head, twisted his torso, and every joint in his body popped like someone crushing dry twigs.

"Damn," he groaned in bliss, rolling his shoulders. "That felt goooood…"

Across the room, Itachi slowly turned his head.

He was sitting upright on his bed, back straight despite everything, Sasuke curled against his side. The younger boy had come storming in earlier, demanded to know what happened, glared at Ren, declared him annoying, and then promptly fallen asleep while holding Itachi's sleeve.

Itachi looked at Ren with tired disbelief.

"You shouldn't be out of bed," he said calmly. "Lady Tsunade will beat you and then heal you again. I don't know where you get the courage for that."

Ren snorted.

"Like you're one to talk. You severed your own chakra pathways to stop a leech from attaching to you."

Itachi blinked once.

"That was necessary."

"And this," Ren said dramatically, stretching his neck, "is also necessary. Bed rest is for weak-willed civilians."

"You were impaled."

"And you were possessed."

Itachi deadpanned, "And I am sure you have a much better reason for the peril you're about to go through by disobeying the person who can punch mountains."

Ren waved him off lazily.

"Relax, Itachi. You think too much. That's why you already have stress lines at twelve."

"I do not."

"You do. Right here." Ren pointed vaguely at his own forehead. "Faint, but they're there."

Itachi resisted the urge to check.

Ren continued mercilessly, "Stop thinking about the village twenty-four seven. Confess your love to Izumi, start dating, get married, have a few kids, relax a little."

Itachi froze, his face flushed instantly.

"I- I do not-"

Ren was already halfway to the window.

"I'm serious! Peace-loving enlightened Uchiha, first of his kind, awakens EMS without sacrifice and still can't confess to a girl. Tragic."

"I do not-"

The window slid open.

"See you later!"

And he was gone.

Itachi stared at the empty frame for several seconds. Then slowly looked down. Sasuke shifted slightly in his sleep, mumbling something unintelligible.

On the bed beside him, something crinkled.

Itachi reached over and picked it up, it was a photograph.

Ren grinning widely at the camera, throwing a peace sign.

Behind him, Kitsuchi tied to a chair, Yugito unconscious beside him, several Cloud and Stone shinobi collapsed in messy piles.

Ren had even drawn little doodles around their heads.

Itachi closed his eyes briefly.

"…Idiot."

He knew Ren wouldn't leave that casually.

If he left the hospital despite Tsunade's threat, it meant something important was happening.

Something political and large and Ren didn't want him involved yet.

Itachi considered getting up, just slightly, just to check.

Then he remembered Tsunade's face when she left, that look. The one that said, If either of you move unnecessarily, I will personally break your legs and then heal you.

Itachi looked at Sasuke again. The younger boy had one hand loosely clutching his sleeve, his breathing was slow and even, peaceful.

Itachi's shoulders softened.

He exhaled.

'I'll teach him how to behave around Lady Tsunade,' he thought quietly. 'He will need that knowledge to survive in this village.'

He adjusted Sasuke's blanket gently then leaned back against the headboard.

For the first time in what felt like years his mind wasn't heavy.

There was no intrusive whisper, no layered command, no foreign pressure coiling in the back of his skull.

The world felt… clearer.

He closed his eyes.

Silence.

Just the faint hospital hum, the soft breathing beside him and then…

A brown-haired girl smiling at him, sunlight catching in her eyes.

Izumi.

Itachi's face went red instantly.

His eyes snapped open. He glanced around the empty room as if someone might have heard his thoughts.

Sasuke snored lightly.

Itachi swallowed.

'…It has been a while since I met Izumi.'

The thought came uninvited.

He immediately pulled the blanket up over his face.

It was completely unnecessary, there was no one watching, but still under the blanket, his ears burned.

He told himself it was because of chakra recovery or blood loss or mild concussion.

Definitely not because Ren had said something that landed directly.

~~~

Leaf's Cemetery

For a place that almost always had someone kneeling before a stone, lighting incense, or whispering apologies to the dead, the cemetery was strangely empty that evening.

The ANBU had quietly redirected civilians elsewhere. No one questioned it. After the chaos of the past two days, people were more than willing to stay indoors.

The sun hung low in the sky, staining everything in a muted orange glow. Long shadows stretched across the rows of headstones, and the wind carried the faint scent of ash and pine.

In front of the large stone carved with the symbol of fire, two figures sat in silence.

One wore the robes of the Hokage.

The other wore the face of a man who should have been dead long ago.

For a long time, neither of them spoke. The world was quiet enough that even the rustling of leaves sounded loud.

Finally, Hiruzen broke the silence.

"So," he said slowly, voice rougher than usual, "you're really dying now?"

Kagami didn't answer immediately.

He sat cross-legged, eyes closed, face calm. The Mangekyo Sharingan in one eye still glowed faintly, but there was something fragile about that glow now, like a candle nearing the end of its wick.

After a while, he spoke.

"I have already stayed longer than my natural course of life," he said quietly. "Any longer… and I may not even reach the Pure Land for reincarnation."

The words weren't bitter, just factual.

"This life of mine," Kagami continued, "had only one purpose. To serve the village. I lingered because there was unfinished business. I stayed because there was rot that had to be cut out."

His gaze shifted slightly, though he did not look at Hiruzen directly.

"I have completed that duty. I stopped him before he could drag the village down with him. So… I am content."

Hiruzen lowered his head slightly, the evening wind tugged at his robes.

He looked up at the orange sky, at the fading light, and asked in a voice that was almost too soft to hear…

"Could you forgive me?"

The question lingered in the air but Kagami did not hesitate.

"No."

It wasn't harsh or angry, it was simply true.

"You betrayed the trust of too many people to be forgiven so easily," Kagami said. "Your inaction allowed harm to fester. Your attachment blinded you."

There was no accusation in his tone only disappointment.

"So," Kagami continued after a pause, "the best you can do now is work the rest of your life for the village, protect its future. Remove the shadows you allowed to grow."

He finally opened his eye and looked at Hiruzen directly.

"That is the only redemption available to you."

Hiruzen closed his eyes briefly then nodded.

"Alright," he said quietly. "Then I will ensure I remove the village's greatest enemy before I see you again in the Pure Land."

The words carried weight and both of them knew who he meant.

They fell into silence again as the sun dipped lower and the light softened further,

After a long moment, Kagami's voice came again, faint, almost like an echo.

"Goodbye, Saru…"

The old nickname struck something deep.

Hiruzen bowed his head toward the fire symbol carved into the stone.

"Goodbye, my friend," he said. "May you finally find peace."

For a brief second, the Mangekyo in Kagami's eye flared brighter.

It was the eye that had allowed him to cling to the world.

The eye that let him see beyond death.

The eye that watched the future unfold.

The eye that endured solely to finish one final duty.

Now… the pattern began to fade, the crimson dimmed, the intricate design blurred.

White overtook the iris slowly, like frost spreading across glass and then, darkness, he went blind and the Sharingan was gone.

The other eye opened instead, it was blue and clear.

Hiruzen looked at her quietly.

"Is he gone?" he asked.

Sayaka nodded once.

"Yes," she replied softly. "He finally found his peace."

Hiruzen exhaled slowly, a single tear escaped his eye but he did not wipe it away. He smiled faintly, though the expression was tired.

"I'll go now," he said. "I'm sure you also have unfinished business."

He stood slowly.

For a moment, he looked older than ever, not physically weaker.

Just… worn.

He turned and began walking away from the fire symbol, his steps unhurried.

Sayaka watched his retreating back in silence. The Hiruzen Sarutobi she remembered from her youth had been different he was strong, decisive, he radiated confidence.

A man who could stand at the front of the battlefield and make enemies hesitate.

The man walking away now was not that person, he wasn't weak but he was burdened and bent.

Defeated not by any external enemy but by his own heart, hesitation, misplaced loyalty, by the cost of decades.

Sayaka sighed softly.

"May you find your peace too, old man," she murmured.

Her gaze drifted to the stone.

"Father would be more disappointed in you than in Danzo if you went to see him like this."

There was no cruelty in the statement, just blunt honesty.

The wind shifted again and the last sliver of sunlight slipped behind the horizon.

The cemetery darkened.

Sayaka closed her eyes and then she vanished.

The space she occupied returned to stillness, the cemetery fell silent once more.

Only the fire symbol remained, standing quietly among the stones.

Watching and waiting.

As it always had.

 

~~~~~

{I thought I could end the arc in this chapter, however it was going on for too long, 2.7k+ words, and the next scene I had written would take it to more than 5k, so I decided to just add one more chapter, tomorrow, the Shadows War finally ends.}

{Also, do you want Itachi, Izumi and Ren dynamics in the future, it could be fun to write, lemme know, also, Hitoshi and Yugao will also return soon.}

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